McCain defends his conservatism

Senator John McCain's record as a staunch conservative came under fire during his Yuma town hall meeting Friday evening at Booth Machinery, prompting the senator to fire back in his own defense with a level of fiery passion reminiscent of his younger days.

“It seems to me that every time you run for election you tack very much to the right…” Steve Replogle, a member of the Colorado River Tea Party, told McCain during the town hall.

“I have personal questions in regards to your positions. You have at times advocated cap and trade… amnesty, and the McCain-Feingold Bill made it illegal for you to publicize the voting record of an elected official within sixty days, which … seemed to me, to be the biggest assault on political free speech in the history of this country.”

Replogle said he is troubled by McCain's history and advocacy.

“I mean I had vowed that I would never vote for you again after you passed McCain-Feingold… if we can't get people to stand on their record, if we can't hold them accountable to the way that they vote, they can say whatever they want. It's what they actually do that we have to know and be able to publicize in order to have an accountable government.”

McCain responded vigorously to defend his conservatism.

“…I have received the support… and awards, from literally every conservative organization,” he said.

“…I stood up when other people were earmarking and pork barreling and (involved in) corruption. I investigated Abramoff… and he eventually ended up in jail. So did members of congress. I have fought fraud, abuse and waste throughout my time.”

As in previous speeches during his presidential campaign, McCain discussed his “maverick” approach to politics to prove his level of conservatism.

“I stood up for the surge when it was going to cost me my entire campaign…” he said.

“I fought for what I believe in. Now you may not agree with what I believe in, but I will leave it to the judgment of the organizations that grade, and support and endorse people because of what they have done.

“I will be glad to… put my record for being a fiscal conservative up against anybody's. I fought against my own party and fought against President (George W.) Bush… and you may not like some of the positions I've taken but I am a proud Ronald Reagan conservative and I am proud of my record and I'll match it up against anybody's.”

Bob Lovelace discussed the issue of immigration at length with McCain.

“We the people don't have to be afraid of social activists, and we don't have to be afraid of this La Raza socialist movement in this country,” Lovelace said.

“And we don't have to be afraid of the president of Mexico… When he crosses our border and he criticizes the laws of our state, and he says that we are prejudice and we are guilty of… racist discrimination, when we know that we are not, then senator, it is becoming very obvious to us who the bigot really is.”

Lovelace called on McCain to take immigration reform head on.

“We've got to stop this, senator…” he said.

“It doesn't matter how you phrase things. You can say, and you often do say this… you say that you never have been for amnesty meaning that you have a plan. What we are really worried about right now… is repeating the same old pattern, and that is what's fixing to happen right now. If you don't stand up… and if you are not willing to stand up, we'll find somebody else that will.”

In response, McCain said the first step is to secure the border.

“(Senator) Jon Kyl and I are committed to getting the border secured. There has been improvement in Yuma, there has not been improvement in the Tucson sector and we have to get the border done completely…”

McCain went on to talk about what other issues are important to him.

“The most important thing is to make sure that our future is secure, whether the issue be jobs, the economy, illegal immigration (or) the national security issues...” he said.

“I am most proud to be effective for the state of Arizona in Washington, and achieve a number of goals, but there's a number of goals that need to be attained , and one of them… here in Yuma is protecting our bases, protecting the men and women in the military. I think I have a very solid record on that respect.”

McCain said he has been consistently going to bat for conservatives.

“I have been fighting against this administration, and leading the fight as they have shifted to the left. I believe that the tea parties and the frustration that is being displayed across America is going to be manifested this November.”

Chris McDaniel can be reached at cmcdaniel@yumasun.com or 539-6849.